WTFFF?! 3D Printing Podcast Volume One: 3D Print Tips | 3D Print Tools | 3D Start Point

Merry Christmas! For those of you that just got a new 3D printer under the tree, you may be wondering where to start. In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy discuss some suggestions for what you might want to do first with your new 3D Printer. To send us a voicemail, go to 3dstartpoint.com or wtfffpodcast.com or shoot us a message at info@wtfffpodcast.com or on our facebook or twitter! Its absolute...

What is the best way to attack a difficult 3D print? How do the Pros do it? In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy discuss tips and best practices to help you achieve success with Russell Singer of MAKEiT Inc. With so many variables including temperature, speed, filament, complicated geometry, infill, wall thickness, support structures, and more, hours can quickly become days as you experiment with...

A listener who just recently bought a 3D Printer, and is also a beginner learning CAD modeling, wrote an email into the show and asked a very good question. “How can I change a free downloaded 3D model?” In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy discuss the realities of accomplishing this seemingly simple task. Beginners may expect it should be easy to make a “simple” change in a short period of time,...

What do you think of our 3D Printing company brand? This is a question that has been posed to Tom and Tracy several times recently by established companies in the market. In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy discuss the branding conundrum faced by many companies in the current 3D printing market. Companies established in the early 3D Print hacker open source community created brands that resonate...

In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy answer question they receive often at WTFFF?!, but have never answered, until today. In fact, this question has been avoided due to the controversial nature of the subject. However, in the wake of the San Bernardino mass shooting, and the recent passing of the third anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy, this question is coming up more frequently. Tom and Trac...

When you run out of your favorite filament and need to buy a new spool, you would expect that if you buy the same brand and color you had before that it should print with the same quality, right? In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy discuss their experience with reordering from trusted filament sources, and the unexpected results. How can you make sure you can 3D Print with consistent quality fro...

It is no secret that we use 3D printing in our business, and have been printing our original product designs on our own 3D printers. As we prepare to bring some of those products to market, we have been searching for a service company to expand our printing capacity as needed. In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy interview David Feeney, CEO and founder of SD3D, a service business that has gone fr...

Maybe you have decided that you are ready to buy a 3D printer. In addition to considering what model printer to buy, and from what manufacturer, there is another choice to make, especially if you are trying to learn as much as possible about 3D Printing. In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy discuss if you should buy one of the many kits available and build your own 3D printer. If you have the tim...

Every month 3D Hubs collects the data from all of its entire network, now 24,500 locations, tracks the trends and issues a report. In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy note the highlights from the report and discuss what it means for the 3D Printing Industry. To send us a voicemail, go to 3dstartpoint.com or wtfffpodcast.com or shoot us a message at info@wtfffpodcast.com or on our facebook or twi...

‘Tis the season for 3D Printed holiday ornament contests! In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy discuss some of the available contests, the Pros and Cons of spending your precious time to create an award worthy design for an uncertain return, and who might benefit the most from participating. To send us a voicemail, go to 3dstartpoint.com or wtfffpodcast.com or shoot us a message at info@wtfffpodc...

Where can I find definitions to 3D Printing vocabulary terms? As the desktop 3D Printing market grows in the consumer space it is becoming clear that many of the common terms used to communicate what printers do and how they work are confusing and in some cases counter intuitive. In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy discuss several of the most confusing terms, define them, debate their merits, an...

Sourcing smartly is critical to industrial 3D print production. In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy interview Cullen Hilkene of 3Diligent about how they sell empty industrial 3D print capacity the way Hotels Tonight sells empty beds. It begins with careful vetting and qualifying of potential producers, continues with a professional RFQ process, and finishes with a veiled bidding process so the c...

In their last episode Tom and Tracy discussed how they organize their 3DP files. In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy build on that discussion with their best practices for saving your CAD and print settings files at many different stages as you work, and recommendations for protecting your 3DP files from being corrupted or deleted. There is nothing worse than losing hundreds of hours of work due...

How do you organize your 3DP files? In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy discuss all of the different files, and the many versions that they save in order to preserve the variations that get created in the design process. The number of files only grows further with settings and Gcode files of the many iterations it takes to achieve the best possible print. Organizing all of the files and document...

Today's question came to us over Facebook and in email from a teacher in Indiana, Joe Rife. He asks us "Can I Get a Copy of Your 3D Angel STL file? In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy discuss how they would like to help Joe and other teachers like him, but there are a lot of issues that make just handing over the STL file risky. They weigh the pros and cons, and search for a way to accommodate t...

In yesterday's Podcast with Maria Speth we had a great discussion that shed a lot of light on how current US Intellectual Property laws apply to 3D Print digital content. In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy ask themselves a related question, "Should 3DP Companies Lobby Congress to update IP laws to apply better to modern technology, especially the 3D Printing industry?" It may take a long time,...

Can you copy a 3D print file without violating Patent or Copyright law? If someone makes a slight change to your original design file, would that new file no longer be protected by the original Copyright? A recent decision in the Federal Court battle between Align Technologies, makers of Invisalign 3D Printed clear braces, and direct competitor Clearcorrect, has established (for now) if digital fi...

A teenager came into our booth at the SoCal MakerCon convention and asked us this question? "How do I get my Mom to buy me a 3D Printer?" In this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy discuss this question and make suggestions for what you can do to show your mom (or dad) that you are serious about getting into 3D Printing, how you can start without having your own 3D Printer, and tips for how you might b...

In this WTFFF?! episode, the last in our series brought to you live from the SoCal MakerCon show floor, Tom and Tracy interview Diego Porqueras, founder of Deezmaker. Four years in the making, this company has grown to occupy two store fronts in Pasadena, CA, one that sells machines and materials, and another that is a Makerspace, a powerful combination of sales and support. The Makerspace is buil...

In this WTFFF?! episode brought to you live from the SoCal MakerCon show floor, Tom and Tracy speak with Carlos Espinoza, Founder of OneBot, about his new line of 3D Printers. This San Diego start-up makes printers that are designed to be upgraded and customized for the user's specific needs. The drive for OneBot to create more flexible 3D Printers came from a key customer and adviser from the mov...

In this WTFFF?! episode brought to you live from the SoCal MakerCon show floor, Tom and Tracy learn how Jewelyn Co and her husband Will started CoKreeate as a one stop retail shop for 3D scanning and printing. In just two years their business has grown to a full time endeavor as they scan and print miniature figurines for a range of different customers. LINKS IN THIS EPISODE CoKreeate web site To...

3D Printing is creating a whole new economy of entrepreneurs starting side businesses that make and sell unique products. With the help of marketplaces like Etsy and Shapeways, discerning consumers are being connected with makers to find more personal and unique gifts. With the holiday shopping season in full swing, in this WTFFF?! episode Tom and Tracy have an in-depth discussion with Vicky Somma...

Successful 3D Printing begins with learning how to create 3D designs to print. In this WTFFF?! episode brought to you live from the SoCal MakerCon show floor, Tom and Tracy interview Joe Micallef about how he got into the 3D Printing industry and decided to write his book, "Beginning Design for 3D Printing." Joe's book introduces beginners to the world of 3D model creation and design with step by...

Is any 3D Printer really "Plug and Play?" The folks at AIO Robotics have created their All-In-One 3D printer with this goal in mind. In this WTFFF?! episode brought to you live from the SoCal MakerCon show floor, Tom and Tracy speak with CEO Jens Windeau & Director of Operations Lucas Lok about how this startup team is building a software and hardware user experience to appeal to new users who...

When it comes to detail, how precise can 3D Printers be, and how complete can a part be when it comes of the printer? In this WTFFF?! episode brought to you live from the SoCal MakerCon show floor, Tom and Tracy learn about 10 micron printing from Russell Singer, Design and Development Director of MAKEiT Inc.. Their printer can make incredibly fine machine threads that come off the printer ready t...